I got to spend an hour alone in the arboretum this weekend. It was a nice bit of relaxation. There was still a little bit of fall color, but most of it was on the ground. What really stood out was not the leaves on the trees, but the mushrooms. With the recent wet weather, enormous mushrooms were everywhere.

We’ve started giving Alex bubble baths again. He’s liked them in the past, but he really loves them now. It’s a guaranteed way to get him to give up any protests about getting ready to go to bed. “But don’t you want bubbles?” we ask.

Friday, we turned bubble bath into a new game. He’d scoop some bubbles on his hand, and I’d blow them. Lots of bubbles blew on to his face. It’s hilarious if you’re two.

What I find funny is Alex has decided he really doesn’t like it when I hold the camera vertically, to take a portrait-orientation photo. He’ll immediately say, “No!” Then he’ll hold his hand out, back of the palm towards me, fingers horizontal, and say, “This way.” For the bubble photo shoot, I didn’t oblige right away. As I kept taking pictures, he said, “No, like my hand. Like my hand. This way.”

I guess I didn’t correct things fast enough for his taste. He gave up on the hand and started tilting his head to the side. I guess it’s OK for the camera to be sideways if his head is sideways, too.